1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image processing apparatus and, more particularly, to an image processing apparatus in which contents of a plurality of inputted pages are reduced and arranged to pages of the number smaller than the number of inputted pages.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, in print systems such as printer, facsimile, and the like, there is a print system for executing what is called allocation printing in which contents of a plurality of inputted pages are reduced and arranged to pages of the number smaller than the number of inputted pages in order to obtain an effect of saving resources. According to such a print system, for example, by printing the contents of four pages into one page, a document of 20 pages can be printed by five sheets of paper. In the ordinary allocation printing, when printing, the user sets the number of pages to be arranged to one page (hereinafter, referred to as an arranged page number) into an image processing apparatus and a printing apparatus receives print data according to the setting from the image processing apparatus and prints it. In this case, the user needs to set the allocation printing in a range where visibility of the pages which were reduced and arranged does not deteriorate in consideration of the contents of the document to be printed.
Such a setting not only burdens the user but also causes a possibility that the sheets are wastefully consumed due to an erroneous setting. To prevent such a drawback, an image processing apparatus in which a size of character in a document is confirmed and the arranged page number is determined in the range where the visibility of the pages does not deteriorate has also been proposed (for example, refer to JP-A-2001-270187). According to such a technique, the arranged page number is determined only by the character size. However, even in the same character size, for example, if a print condition such as resolution or the like differs, there is also a possibility that the visibility of the pages deteriorates. Such an example will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are explanatory diagrams of the example in which the visibility deteriorates in the same character size.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams in the case where the same character “in” is printed in the same character size at resolution of 300 dpi and 600 dpi, respectively. It will be easily understood that there is a large difference of the visibility between them.
It is, therefore, a problem to be solved that once the arranged page number is determined only by the character size, even in the same character size, for example, if the print condition such as resolution or the like differs, there is a possibility that the visibility of the pages deteriorates.